The Present Disclosure relates, generally, to a connector, and, more particularly, to a connector in which the first contact member and a pair of second contact members of a terminal are arranged side by side in the transverse direction of a base portion, thereby enabling the first contact member and the pair of second contact members to connect electrically to an opposing first contact member and an opposing pair of second contact members, while also being easy to manufacture, and having a simple configuration and a low profile.
Conventional connectors, with elastically deformable terminals, can be used to supply current and signals to electrodes disposed on a flat board or panel. An example is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3477640, the content of which is incorporated in its entirety herein.
FIG. 11 illustrates the connection of a conventional connector to a board, in which FIG. 11(a) illustrates the terminals in various positions of elastic deformation and FIG. 11(b) illustrates the terminals fully elastically deformed. In FIGS. 11(a) and 11(b), 891 is a mounting board such as a printed circuit board, and 811 is the housing of a connector mounted on the mounting board 891. In the housing 811, a plurality of recessed portions 814 are formed side-by-side, and a terminal 851 is loaded into each of the recessed portions 814. Each terminal 851 includes a tail portion 856 protruding outward from the housing 811, and each tail portion 856 is electrically or mechanically connected to a contact pad (not shown) on the top surface of the mounting board 891 using solder. The contact pads are connected to circuits (not shown) on the mounting board 891.
Also, 901 is an opposing board having a plurality of contact pads formed on the bottom surface (not shown). When the opposing board 901 is brought close to the mounting board 891, so that the boards are parallel to each other, the contact pads on the opposing board 901 are pressed against the contact portions 854 of the terminals 851 protruding from the top surface of the housing 811 by height I. This elastically deforms the terminals 851 from the position shown in FIG. 11(a) to the position shown in FIG. 11(b). The contact pads are then connected to circuits (not shown) on the opposing board 901. An electrical connection is thus established between circuits on the mounting board 891 and circuits on the opposing board 901 via the terminals 851. Accordingly, the mounting board 891 and opposing board 901 are held in the positional relationship shown in FIG. 11(b), and connected to each other mechanically using connecting members (not shown) such as bolts or hooks.
However, in conventional connectors, the tail portions 856 of the terminals 851 are connected to contact pads on the mounting board 891. As a result, the circuits on the opposing board 901 cannot be connected to the mounting board 891 using a separate electric cable. Further, it is generally not appropriate to supply a large current to the circuits of a mounting board 891 such as a printed circuit board, but it is usually desirable to supply power from a power source such as a battery via a cable including electric wires with a round cross-sectional profile when the opposing board 901 includes electric components that consume a relatively large amount of power. However, electric wires with a round cross-sectional profile cannot be connected to the terminals 851 in conventional connectors. Also, when a plurality of opposing boards 901 are connected using electrical wires to form a daisy chain and a parallel circuit with respect to the power source in order to operate the opposing boards 901 simultaneously, two wires have to be connected to each terminal 851. This, again, cannot be realized using a conventional connector.